Homewood Suites by Hilton Aliso Viejo Laguna Beach

This is ALWAYS a favorite stay here @ Homewood Suites.😍With Camille & Cristina @ the helm…. ALL IS PERFECT! ❤️My room is clean EVERY-TIME & the entire hotel is wonderful! Try to arrive for Wednesday night Managers reception 5:00pm to 7:00pm. Warm buffet breakfast every morning.

My recent stay at Homewood Suites by Hilton Aliso Viejo was a frustrating and disappointing experience. Three major issues left a bad impression, and I can't recommend this hotel based on my stay. First, the coffee machine in my room didn't work at all, I rely on the quick morning pick-me-up. I contacted the front desk and while they said they'd send somebody to fix it, no one ever showed up. To make matters worse, my room was not made up during my stay, when I called the front desk to complain I was told that I was informed at check in that the rooms are only made up every other day. I was not informed of this rule. No free parking. For the price I paid, I expected much better. I will not stay here again.

So disappointed in this hotel and their staff. Now I am going to have to take to every form of social media and review sites to share my experience. My husband and myself, along with another couple, stayed here a little less than a month ago. I booked the two rooms and then later canceled because my husband had more Hilton Honors status than I did. Well, not only did the hotel charge my credit card for the two rooms I cancelled, but of course my husband also paid for the two rooms when we checked out. After multiple calls to the hotel they have done nothing and literally are ignoring calls and messages from me and my husband. I even tracked down the hotel manager on LinkedIn, with no response. Terrible customer service, and so disappointing.

The room was immaculate and spacious. We had a two-room suite. The beds were very comfortable. We didn't use the kitchen but it had all the basics-- large fridge, stove, microwave, dishwasher, plates, cups, etc. The pool and hot tub were very nice, The full breakfast was the best included hotel breakfast I've ever had. Many hot dishes as well as beautiful fresh fruit, chia seed pudding, and overnight oats.

The 2 main reasons this hotel was chosen by my party was 1) close to family for a visit and 2) free breakfast. Overall it was average at best but what made it poor was 1) parking that must be paid for, according to posted signs (more on that in a minute) 2) sub-par breakfast, and 3) no tissues "anywhere in the hotel". These may not seem like a big deal, but when you see a plastic empty tissue box holder in the room you're thinking, "did housekeeping forget to add one?" No. After a call to the front desk, they said they were "completely out, but have plenty of paper towels and toilet paper." No thanks. This was for a 3-night stay. If I were to do it all over again, I wouldn't have paid for parking. This is the type of hotel that has an open lot yet (usually free almost everywhere else) yet has posted signs that say you need to pay for parking. How? By a QR code or text to a number. Ha! Didn't say it was enforced and it sure seems like it wasn't at all. So why bother? Well, it seems to just be a cash grab for suckers. I didn't pay for it (and wouldn't have) but another member of my party did without my knowledge so they're out $15/day! But I know darn well they don't bother to employ or pay for someone to check all the license plates. And I also know it's not enforced because there was absolutely no parking when returning home after dinner one evening, so I just helped myself to a "no parking" spot that clearly wasn't a fire lane or blocking anything, unlike many others. Car was still there in the morning untouched and w/o nasty notes. Now on to the pitiful breakfast. First the hours are paltry like the "buffet" selection: 6-9 AM M-F, 6-10 AM on the weekends. My wife could've sworn she saw a "person experiencing homelessness" (they don't enforce or check cards) load up her bag full at the last minute before they shut it all down. But there wasn't much to load up on. They had a few hot items, the ubiquitous powered scrambled eggs that are always the saddest "buffet" breakfast staple, chorizo one day, breakfast sausage the next, pre-made waffles one day and pancakes the next. They had 3 or 4 cereals but the bowls were always hot out of the dishwasher, so if you wanted cold cereal, the lukewarm milk in it's pitcher would turn even warmer, and you would experience a tepid bowl of cereal. As for fresh fruit, all the bananas were always gone so you're just left with waxy apples and oranges. A few HFCS based juices rounds up your beverage selection along with big plastic warmers of coffee. And again, it was packed every single morning. Felt more like a soup kitchen to be honest. An employee shut off access to the food pantry at exactly 9:02 AM on a Friday. Show up 5 minutes late? Outta luck! But what do you expect? My experience with American hotels for decades that include breakfast at this tier has almost always been a disappoint, with the only exception being Embassy Suites, they still pride themselves on a hot, made-to-order breakfast. But again, no one in our party wanted to drive more than 10 minutes from our other family members house so this is what you get. I think you're much better off just booking a hotel w/o "free" breakfast and with better options nearby...you'll have at least a tastier and more pleasant start to your day.